Chapter 3.
Instinct
Bulla stirred with a sudden jerk. She recalled one lesson in particular from her father. It was to always trust in your gut. The feeling was potent.
It was still nighttime. Bulla started searching the area around for ki. The girl felt a minor ki reaching her rapidly. She willed her body to comply. Working with her hand, she gripped the edge of the fireplace and lifted herself from the sitting position she had taken only hours ago. She felt her wounds hurt when she pulled her muscles.
The injury was deep. Still using the fireplace as assistance, Bulla focused on dropping ki as low as possible. Diminishing it, she felt lethargic. The girl shuddered off that pain and started concentrating on the closing in energy that grew larger. The girl was aware that she would never be capable of defending herself.
The blue-haired girl didn't know if the ki approaching her belonged to a creature or a group of individuals. She took a cautious step towards the doors. She removed the chair under the doorknob, which provided the door block. When she peeked out, it was still dark. The chilly air left a pleasant feeling on her flushed face. Her body quivered. Still, she felt so warm, and her skin looked gloomy.
As the anonymous energy drew closer, she panicked when her breathing became shallow and faster.
The girl scoured her surroundings and came across an enormous tree of unusual color. Her injuries and fatigue prevented her from going as fast as she liked to.
She swallowed her fear and thrust her body to go behind the shrub. Bulla planted both her hands on the tree bark.
The crust was coarse; several places held soft, strange-colored moss. Bulla could see the lodge from behind the tree. She gulped the spittle that stuck in her throat. Her mouth was dry from lack of water. Her gasp hitched when she heard a group of five alien men land in front of the patio.
They were massive and buff.
Their skin was drab, a deep shade of brown; it looked exceedingly thick. The girl noted they looked like lizards. They positioned their eyes low in their skulls. Their jaws protruded.
What captured her attention was the device on one eye of each member.
Based on stories her father had told her, Bulla recognized the device as a scouter.
The girl forced herself to push her ki lower when it turned out disastrous. She cried out in agony. Bulla covered her mouth. Hoping that they didn't hear her, but they did.
The aliens jostled in her direction. She saw one of them press the red button on their device. It showed numerals on the small screen. It was too late now that they started approaching the tree behind one she was hiding.
"What do I do?" She quickly thought to herself. " I can't fight them!" she started formulating the plan.
The best option for her was to run. The chain of thoughts disintegrated when she felt the cold, long, and scaly fingers at the back of her neck. She panicked as she was uplifted from the ground and up in the air.
"Pha wan mini tim hiyet yukh pha wan tus weltuk mol rus?" The alien spoke in such a guttural voice that it scared Bulla.
The tears welled in her eyes as she struggled against his hold.
"Let me go!" She screamed and started wriggling. Her struggles caused the group of aliens to chuckle.
"Who are you, people?" She asked, and her voice came out shaky.
" sekh we en dha?" The alien smiled at her, but deep in his eyes, she saw malicious intent.
The group of remaining aliens neared in.
Their movements toward her sent the panic alarm to kick in.
"What do you want from me?" Bulla reached behind her back as she tried to uncurl the fingers from her neck. But her attempts were stopped by a wash of pain from her lower abdomen.
She gathered what energy she could and threw her body backward; he lost his footing from the impact.
" wusse izh wak susnava!" She heard one of the aliens speak to one another as they started laughing. She looked at the source of her pain. It was lower on her abdomen, blood seeping through her clothing quickly.
"peshafo hopo se ame me ho ope kosho wofo !" The blue-haired girl heard the man answer from below.
She distanced herself from him for a few paces. She saw another alien man reach out for her as his eyes narrowed, and his expression turned to an ugly scowl.
The other alien slithered his tongue across his lips and made snake-like movements.
"What do I do?" the girl thought as she tried to distance herself further from them.
I need to get away from them.
"pùyy yay mo una!" the men laughed as she started trembling from fear and pain her body put her through.
"I want to go home," she whispered to herself.
From the corner of her eye, she saw another man trying to approach her, and he was pretty fast.
She had trouble breathing again, she struggled, and her vision became slightly blurry. The unfamiliar man successfully caught her injured wrist with force. Bulla screamed in pain. It made the other alien grin while his associates laughed mockingly between themselves. The man on the ground stood up and crossed his arms.
"Let me go!" the girl shouted as she tried to free the injured appendage when the alien tightened his grip.
It was so tight that his nails dug into torn skin, reopening her wound. It started bleeding. The smell of the blood roused the alien as he brought her arm to his face. He licked it. "Stop that!"
The action heated Bulla's cheeks with embarrassment. It made her renew her attempts at freeing herself.
In her head, the girl formulated a plan.
Operating her spare hand, she concentrated a considerable chunk of her energy.
"Solar flare!" she shouted, and the attack blinded her would-be captors. Their inability to see her will buy some time for the girl to get away from them.
She broke into the run. The path in the dark was already hard. Bulla almost made contact with a few trees in the process. Her lungs felt like they were on fire. In the small distance, she heard a menacing roar.
" da piu! " The girl saw them dashing after her. Her chest tightened. She would need to stop and rest if she didn't want to pass out from lack of oxygen.
Her muscles started hurting again, and they bled again. Once she was sure she had lost sight of the men, she scanned the perimeter again and found they were still close. Bulla slowed down and stopped behind another tree.
She pressed her back against the trunk of the tree. She was instantly drenching it in blood.
"Shit, it's going to leave a trail." She cursed mentally. She sighed and closed her eyes when she took a deep breath. She was so terrified of the people after her. The girl cursed the other aliens that were responsible for her being here.
"I hate it!" she thought.
Suddenly she lost her footing and found herself in the air. Her back made contact with another tree.
"What?! How?" The girl asked herself as she landed on her knees. She started gasping from the lack of air. Her vision blurred again. She shifted her eyes to observe, but nobody was there.
She rose into a kneeling position only for a fist to meet with her face.
The blood poured from her nose and mouth.
It was a mistake to stop locating her enemy's energy. They have discovered her. Her eyes dilated as she swallowed blood. The girl quickly stood up on her feet.
Bulla didn't see anyone in the near vicinity. She engaged her ki sense but nothing. Only when the girl looked upward; she saw something coming her way fast. The blue-haired girl didn't react to the attack in time. She landed a few feet from her attacker. She was overwhelmed with an episode of vertigo.
The girl tried getting up from the ground when the alien man, one from before, took hold of her injured wrist and elevated her into the air.
She made eye contact with him. The girl felt trapped. So many things ran through her mind. "I'm going to die now." she thought.
Her tearful eyes observed him. The alien man had a smirk plastered on his face. Before she could do anything, his fist made contact with her face.
"gap nang!" he laughed at her before hurling her into the air and making her his punch bag. The girl screamed in pain. Even when she trained with her father, he wouldn't be as rough as this.
The blue-haired girl coughed out blood.
Her eyes started watering as once again she started fighting for breath. She was disoriented; her body hurt all over.
With a little bit of energy, she blocked his fist that tried to make contact with her face again.
She defended herself. She barely went on the offense when the opportunity presented itself. Bulla used her elbow to land an attack on his breastplate. It cracked upon contact.
The girl breathed out very fast when the alien sure noticed that. Her lungs pressured her to supply the oxygen required for her survival. She couldn't stop right now with danger looming over her.
She narrowed her eyes in concentration. Bulla sensed others approaching her way. The girl needed to do something fast. She put her arms in front just in time to stop another attack.
The sheer force knocked her a little backward. She panted.
When she looked from behind her arms, the alien was charging at her again, full speed. The girl formulated a plan. She had lowered her body before the alien had time to land a punch on her. Confusion was evident on his face.
Bulla took his ankle, twisted it, and lowered him with force.
He was a bit winded. He rotated his body, so he spread on his back. When Bulla noted that he started regaining his awareness, the girl urged her body and jumped as high as she could. The girl descended; upon the impact, she broke his trachea. His eyes bulged out of their socket as he fought for breath. Blood started oozing out of his mouth.
When she heard others approaching, she cursed mentally.
She turned tail and ran as fast as she could, which was slow even by her standards. If she were on Earth, it would be different.
A/N: You can interpert the alien language as you see fit. It was made with random letters.
This isn't were the original chapter had ended. I had to split it in two otherwise it would be too long.
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